Electric Vehicles Environment Related Claim Found Misleading

Confronted with another case of possible misleading advertising, the ethic jury of the Portuguese Self-Regulation entity on Advertisement determined that the promotion of a new electric vehicle as being exempt from paying tolls breached the standard for truthfulness.

The complaint was submitted by the Portuguese Association of Concessionary Companies of Tolled Motorway and Bridges (“APCAP”) against Renault Portugal.

The object of the complaint was an advertising campaign with the claims  “Tolls. All vehicles pay. But electrics don't pollute, so they deserve an advantage. Class zero: if it pollutes zero, it pays zero. A Renault initiative for a more sustainable mobility.”

In sum, APCAP considered that such claim could mislead the consumer to believe that (i) electric vehicles don’t pollute at all and that (ii) there is indeed a “Class Zero”, and, therefore, the purchase of such electric vehicles would exempt its owner from paying tolls.

Although the campaign in casu had a disclaimer, explaining that only a certain value of tolls would be supported by Renault Portugal itself, the Portuguese Self-Regulation entity on Advertisement considered such campaign to be misleading to the average customer.